101 Days of Christmas: Corn Flakes Holly Leaves

My step-mom, who passed away almost 9 years ago, when our oldest was just a baby, used to make these holly leaf treats every Christmas. We’d all end up with green fingers and teeth from taste testing as we went, and while I’m not a huge fan of food dye, I couldn’t resist making them myself this year!

Unsurprisingly, they were a hit with the girls, although I’ll admit our youngest was a little concerned by the color until we convinced her to try one.

I like to add extra cornflakes to mine, even though it makes them not quite as uniform in color, so that they harden more quickly and offer more crunch than stickiness.

Ingredients:

20 marshmallows

1/4 cup butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

green food coloring

2 1/2-3 cups corn flakes

red hots

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, melt butter and marshmallows over low heat, stirring as needed to prevent the marshmallows from caramelizing. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract and food coloring. Add cornflakes and stir gently until all the flakes are coated in the marshmallow mixture.

Note: You’ll want to work quickly before the marshmallows begin to cool and become stringy.

Drop cornflake mixture on a piece of wax paper by the spoonful, shaping into holly leaves with your finger. Don’t worry about making them too perfect; you just want an oblong shape that is slightly wider at one end.

Immediately add three red hot candies to the wide end of the leaf. Don’t wait for this step; you want to add them while it’s still sticky!

Let harden for 1-6 hours. Store in a tightly sealed container with wax paper between the layers.

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A few things you should know about me: I'm a wife and mother of 6, as well as a full-time work-at-home mom, a passionate entrepreneur, a homeschooler, and an INTJ, with a heavy emphasis on the introvert! And I'm pretty sure fair-trade chocolate, loose leaf tea, and Starbucks lattes are among life's greatest pleasures.